Bearcat Basketball Player Development

[bobbrannen]

I was wondering if anyone has seen any difference between Huggins/Cronin in offseason player improvement.
I LOVE Jaquan Parkers improvement and I tend to believe Kilpatrick improved from his freshman/sophmore year.
However I am not convinced of Mic's offseason development plans.
Huggins really seemed to have marked improvement on at least 50% of the roster each year to me.
I am throwing out Mics first year as that would be unfair.
For example who has NOTICEABLY improved under Mic from year to year (Jaquan,Kilpatrick,dixon,I guess Gates)
Each player has different work ethic yes but like I said Huggins sure seemed to get marked improvement i.e (Maxiel, Bobby Brannen,Levett,Kenyon,Logan,Fletch, and plently of role players got MUCH better.
I did NOT see any real progression in Larry Davis, Biggie,wilks( a little in Bishop)not NEAR enough in Cashmere yet --yes yes i know he was injured but he would disappear for long streches where I still see zero penetration and okay passing.

 

[Eternal E]

I was wondering if anyone has seen any difference between Huggins/Cronin in offseason player improvement.
I LOVE Jaquan Parkers improvement and I tend to believe Kilpatrick improved from his freshman/sophmore year.
However I am not convinced of Mic's offseason development plans.
Huggins really seemed to have marked improvement on at least 50% of the roster each year to me.
I am throwing out Mics first year as that would be unfair.
For example who has NOTICEABLY improved under Mic from year to year (Jaquan,Kilpatrick,dixon,I guess Gates)
Each player has different work ethic yes but like I said Huggins sure seemed to get marked improvement i.e (Maxiel, Bobby Brannen,Levett,Kenyon,Logan,Fletch, and plently of role players got MUCH better.
I did NOT see any real progression in Larry Davis, Biggie,wilks( a little in Bishop)not NEAR enough in Cashmere yet --yes yes i know he was injured but he would disappear for long streches where I still see zero penetration and okay passing.

Dixon went from a guy committed to Bradley to a 1200 point scorer. Kilpatrick went from a borderline high major recruit to an All-Big East player. It is extremely difficult for guys like Davis, Wilks, etc to improve dramatically when there wasn't a veteran leadership so they were taken over by the younger players much like Indiana's '08 class was completely overtaken by their newer recruits. Players must be developing, Cincinnati isn't landing top 5 recruiting classes but has won 52 games the past 2 seasons and reached the Sweet 16 this year....

 

[mplebanon]

Mic hasn't done much in terms of developing his players at all.

Now Mick, on the other hand, has had some success in that area.

 

[bobbrannen]

I dont disagree about the veteran leadership.
Wilks was a high major in terms of athletics and Larry Davis,Biggie and Rashap were top 100-50 players.
This is the year that I think will define Mics offseason workouts.
No excuses this time, and I want to see SOLID improvement in at least 50% of the roster. GAINES especially as you cant improve natural talent you cant coach how to jump/natural athletisism!
If 50% take a step up this will be a legit top 15-20 team in my opinion.
kilpatrick-1st team big east, cashmere 2cnd team, Jaquan/Justin Jackson on the edge/honorable mention.

Improvement from at least one of the following ,JD3,Guyn,Sanders,Shaq,Ellis

 

[bobbrannen]

spelling is not my strong suit but getting better at basketball EVERY year is.

 

[JasonS]

First of all, you cannot judge every player the same and based on one year. You need to look at the big picture when it comes to a players development. Some players will show noticeable improvement from year 1 to 2, others may not show it until their junior or senior years. Let's look at the current roster real quick:

Cash - All you have to do is look at his assist to turnover ratio to see his improvement. Also, he has really improved at finishing around the basket.

SK - The kid that came in as a freshman and redshirted was incomplete. Not a great shooter. More of a slasher. He has turned himself into a good defensive player and lethal shooter. Just wait until he is playing his natural position of SG this coming year. He is going to have a size advantage on a lot of players at that position and I think you will see his game go to the next level.

Jaquon - This past season speaks for itself.

Justin Jackson - He has shown his ability to develop some offensive moves. More improvement there will come I believe. Also, he did a better job with the fouls this season. Still room for improvement there also. His defense has continued to get better.

Dixon - I think Mick got the most out of Dixon. He was frustrating at times but the kid played hard. I don't think there was anything left for Mick to tap.

Gates - I think Gates improved defensively quite a bit during his time here. I think there could be more offensively, but at some point, a coach can only get you so far. The trick is to get Yancy motivated. Easier said than done though. I don't fault Mick on this one and, if he wasn't a local kid that everyone knew EVERYTHING about before he committed to UC, I think fans would have been pleased overall with his production over the 4 years.

Obviously, it is too early to judge the Freshmen from this year. We will see how they progress next season. Some will make leaps in their development and others will still need more time. Gaines is a work in progress and we will have to wait a bit longer before we can definitively say if he got better. JUCO players are tough because they are only here a short while. I fully expect Mbodj to be much improved this year.

Let's not forget that not every player reaches the level that coaches expected when they recruited the kid. Some reach levels that no one thought possible. It is the nature with recruiting. You just never know. It is usually not on the coach though. It is usually on the commitment of the player. I love Huggins but he had his share of guys that never really improved. BJ Grove, Rod Flowers, Field Williams to name a few. No coach bats 1.000 in the recruiting game.

Based on Mick's short time here I think he has proven that he gets the most out of the guys that he can. You can see the improvement in the teams over the last 6 seasons. There is a direct correlation in the type of recruits Mick is getting and also the improvement in those recruits with the improved success on the court.

 

[mplebanon]

spelling is not my strong suit but getting better at basketball EVERY year is.

I guess you spent too much time at the beach, Baywatch Bobby.

 

[Thegreatone]

I think it is a fair question. A couple of years ago everyone was really grilling Mick about his player development.

I think recently some players made big strides but we never did see Wilks, Biggie, Davis, and Vaughn improve like we had hoped.

I think the verdict is still out but is trending in the right direction.

 

[Thegreatone]

spelling is not my strong suit but getting better at basketball EVERY year is.

People who correct grammer or spelling on message boards are the same people who put periods at the end of texts.

Lame

 

[bearcat jeff]

The coaches give players a map for their offseason workouts. JP is a classic example on both sides of this. Between his freshman and sophmore seasons he admittedly did not work. Last season he worked his ass off and we saw the results.

This is the one area you can lay almost exclusively at the feet of the players. Average players can become very good by putting time in the gym. The thing I like most about the players Mick is recruiting is that they are gym rats.

Mick has publicly been critical of JJ for not being in the gym more. I think he is the one guy I would single out amongst the returnees who has the chance to make the largest leap. he has excellent natural athletic gifts. He can put the ball on the floor and with a little work could be a good mid range shooter. Defensively we know what his potential is. His problm is he simply relies too much on effort and gifts. With more time working on his game, things would slow down to him because he'd be more confident in his abilities.

I also think we'll see a much better Jermaine Sanders. The game was coming to him at seasons end and he has good basketball tools.

But the guy I want to see is Shaq. If he consistently gets lift on his jumper he will really help this team and with his ball skills could play either wing position. He has worked very hard on this and I can't wait to see him on the floor.

 

[bobbrannen]

Thanks for the information.
I would love to see Kelvin gaines off season map to get better.
JJ does have talent and I 100% agree if he can hit that mid range jumper he will be a honorable mention all big east type of player.
Jermaine Sanders I really like his potential as well he reminded me of an old school type of player letting the game come to him.
CANT WAIT TO SEE SHAQ

 

[bobbrannen]

did you ever buy the bobbie brannen pillow that they sold in Austrailia when he played there?

 

[Thegreatone]

Sleep with it every night I get home from the backyard bar in reading.

 

[BamaCat]

I have an autographed Bobby Brannon jersey hanging in my game room. He was GREAT!

 

[BamaCat]

Sorry "Brannen"

 

[bearcat jeff]

Jon Rothstein‏@JonRothstein

An intriguing player next year for Cincinnati? Kelvin Gaines. Athletic big produced when he got mins last year. Will have to embrace role.

 

[Eternal E]

Jon is big bearcat fan...I love it. How many other analysts even know who Gaines is?

 

[CPAW29]

I have an autographed Bobby Brannon jersey hanging in my game room. He was GREAT!

uc has been missing that type of player for quite some time

 

[bearcat jeff]

Jon Rothstein‏@JonRothstein

Hearing Cincinnati's Jermaine Sanders has looked terrific in off-season workouts. Will be critical off the bench next year for the Bearcats.

 

[mplebanon]

Jon Rothstein‏@JonRothstein

Hearing Cincinnati's Jermaine Sanders has looked terrific in off-season workouts. Will be critical off the bench next year for the Bearcats.

Sheesh. Rothstein mentions Gaines and Sanders? Hmmm. Where's he getting the info? Mick?

Gaines is athletic enough to do the job. I think with more playing time and instruction, he would be solid defensively. We all know it's his offensive game that we're not sure of.

Sanders? Coming out of high school I heard he was kind of like Kilpatrick..........a smart player and pure shooter. I was counting on him much next season other than some backup minutes. I expect Cash, S K, and Parker to get most of the time at the first 3 spots, with Jackson and Mbodj, Gaines or Obekpa down low. I do see lots of guys getting backup minutes though. Definitely will go 10 deep early on and for awhile.